November Music Thread

I hope it doesn't sound stalky (as I don't post much) but she does sound like she would fit in great!

xennialish that's actually a combination we are thinking about. Music school plus Manchester JAs and an RAD dance school would be her dream scenario I think. We have to see how her JA audition goes!

As someone else said, the advantage it feels to us of specialist school would be putting more of the music into her day, rather than the huge juggle it is now. And a school set up to support them in that instead of one where we are almost working against them.

There are some amazing state schools nationally. None of them are available to us locally! The options we would have suck.

Flootoot and other Opera people in the know.

I want to buy some tickets for next year, looking at feb half term time.

We have seen lots of Opera North productions and want to see a large production, possibly with a big female name.

Looking for recommendations and for somewhere to stay that is pretty budget priced.

We can't afford the most expensive seats, can anyone advise as to where the cut off is between good and not so good seats would be.

Would love for it to be just perfect for dd, but have to be realistic with costs. I know it won't be cheap, but part of Christmas/Birthday present.

Enjoy the wine trumpet; and cheers to him being totally in control (even we have our doubts)!

Very behind on thread but sending hugs to young drummer - really hope he and his friend are ok. Also to poor miniealing - hope all’s well for Tuesday.
We manage to all eat together just over half the week but Monday and Tuesday are split shifts in term time!
Kutik love the idea of the boys giggling conspiratorially together.

Luckily ds still off loads to me first thing after school ( I'll miss it when he stops) NCO concert was great ( now having dinner) trumpet got his very high top notes ( just !!) and watching him I thought he was going to pass out before hand but he says it was just a massive adrenaline rush !! on realising that he had to hit the high notes - luckily he thrives under pressure I don't !! So I'm now having wine to recover from thinking we'd taken on too much . Will be home very late but hey!!

That's a lovely arrangement your DH and DS have going kutik

Wow, Trumpet, sounds exhausting but so exciting!

earling, thank you for the details! It really helps me prepare for the next stage. Hopefully we can find our rhythm also.

We are having a rather relaxing Sunday today.

Morning
DS woke up and enjoyed a bit of digital time (weekend treat), had breakfast, homework (10 mins...), then off to play footy with friends and daddies. Came home, shower and rest. Then played the piano while waiting to be called for lunch.

A massive Sunday lunch all swallowed and consumed leaving our stomach impossibly unattractive.

Afternoon
After a bit of rest, DS practised violin. Now boys are off to a local swimming pool with friends. They have fantastic diving boards which make those boys totally crazy. I sometimes think DS could have taken up diving seriously. He is very good at it.

Evening
We are planning to have light dinner then watch Blue Planet (recorded one). DH and DS will probably disappear to DS's room nearer to DS's bedtime. They close the door and have a long chat or read books or no idea what they do but I often hear lots of giggles (sometimes DH tells DS naughty things he did when he was a child and DS loves it...). DH doesn't see DS during weekdays so it's a precious time for them. I leave them alone, and normally I won't see DS till tomorrow morning!

Kutik; Years 7 and 8 homework was relatively light. Could be done in breaks/lunch/after school. Yes music rehearsals take place during these times also (and mornings before registration), and certain clubs of interest, or choir as example, had to be forfeited as there were too many clashes, or not enough 'free' times for he to manage.

Y9 is a little more challenging, but, when it's not a competition weekend, she is free from 10am on Sat through to Monday am and can pick up the longer essay type home works then. For those that do JD/music activities, you'll know what a whole day on this with travelling feels like, so I guess it swings in roundabouts. In the week she leaves early to get a music room in the morning, even if it's 35 mins before she's kicked out by a music teacher, it's better than nothing, otherwise, she'd be commuting with the volume and this stresses her out, especially on a busy transport line.

Food - she'd never compromise, and even considers pudding loss sacrilege ! Eats in between school and swim session (lots of choice where school is), from a panini, pizza slice to carluccio's/wasabi type food, and will study in library or at a friends and then set off for session.

She eats again with us (a proper meal) as near to walking through the door, getting ready for next day whilst it's being prepared. It is most certainly not ideal, as we now eat around 9.30pm (latest), then she's off to bed (on a full stomach), but meal proportions are now reduced. A full fat chocolate drink is given to her when I pick her up from swimming in car...that's when I get my main download of day (which she cannot go on her phone to respond to pals UNTIL she's had a conversation with me!).

Sorry for the over detail. I miss the days also of not shooing her up to bed with worries over indigestion, but this is how it's been for over 2 years. There's been 2 times only where we've had a crisis of homework needing to be done and she's still up at 10.30pm. But I also hear stories of other families who regularly have this AND have children that are on their social media till all hours, so I accept the status quo that we have!

Also, there’s a girl in my dd’s class at music school who arrived in year 6 and was a grade six ballet dancer then and I think is still dancing so weirdly that path could actually leave more options to continue dance as the music is done within normalish school hours.

@Minimusiciansmama not precisely the question you asked but royal ballet junior associates is Sunday in Manchester I think.

We are currently eating cake before ds's next concert I've sent him with lots of food so hoping he remembers to eat before playing!! He slept in the car on the way here having been away with AYM . I always knew November would be a bit crazy but he seems really happy and content - long may that last

Re the importance of keyboard skills, I totally agree, drummers.

Luckily DS likes plunking the piano also, but mainly for recreation purpose rather than diligent study. He will keep up piano, and may want to try jazz or something, but only to the level where it won't interfere other important stuff.

I think he is nearly reaching a point where his keyboard skills are sufficient enough to pick and play something he fancies without too much of frustration. Today he was playing Beethoven's Sonata he recently started learning. His playing was rather nice for ears.

It depends, Kutik. Sitting down dinner in our house all together still takes place on most days, usually sandwiched between homework and sometimes rushed, but it´s the only time we can discuss certain things with DS. Concert nights being the exception of course. On those, he grabs something after rehearsals from the coffee shop or we meet him for a quick grab in a nearby eatery. After the concert he tops up with a hot milk before bed.

earling, can I ask you more question (I'm holding a pen and paper...)? When does she do homework when she leaves so early and comes back so late? Does she do it after 9pm? Or she does it at school? Also, does she has time for a proper dinner during weekday? Or is it more like a grab and swallow?

DS has two evenings when he cannot have proper dinner. He has light snack at 3.30 pm, then toasts with banana milk or honey lemon at 8.15pm. Everything has to be done in a military manner to make sure he is in time for an activity, then once he is back he does homework while munching the toasts. Then have a quick shower and bedtime.

It's only two evenings and he can have a proper meal at a normal dinner time for the rest and have a bit of winding down time before sleep, so not too bad. But still I don't really like that. It may be my background. I come from where quality dinner time is valued - it plays an important role socially, nutritiously, and mentally. But I may have to let go the sentimentalism and accept the lifestyle of the children in our generation. I think it gets only worse as they grow?

Thank you all.
miniealing's schedule is

Re discussion going on, if you envisage a career in music, be it performing teaching arranging producing composing etc etc, keyboard skills are very important. So piano second study leaves doors open. DS is keeping up piano both classical and jazz out of love luckily, but even if that love wasn't there I would insist he doesn't abandon it.

I appear to have offended you, Woolly.
I can only speak as a professional orchestral flautist and teacher. The issue isn't with a child playing 2 or 3 instruments - which is common, as you correctly point out, but the choice of those instruments. A clarinetist may play flute and saxophone, because they are typical requirements for doubling in shows etc. A flautist that also learns trombone, for example, isn't a good choice. It sounds like your child's teacher has concerns about how the bassoon is affecting her clarinet technique, and in turn, her likelihood of doing well in the exam.

Later on, music colleges will offer lessons in 2 instruments only, second study being piano for non-pianists, and mostly for students on the graduate course; not all students on the performers course will study 2 instruments, precisely because they need the time to concentrate on their first study. Pianists almost certainly will not study a second instrument, and a few people will have joint first studies but these would never be conflicting wind instruments.

Of course, a peri teacher in a prep school should be aware of the particular demands and pressures of this term, but at the same time, your child's teacher clearly feels a responsibility to make sure you child does as well as possible in her clarinet exam.

Lovely comments, thank you all. Something's just surfaced and asked for a bowl of super noodles. I know, yuck, but each to their own, and there is a glimmer of recovery

Misti, it's like getting to the next milestone (or school holiday) to re-assess, recover and start again afresh for next term after a tough past one. I think no matter how robust our DC appear to be, young mental health with its many facets must be at the forefront of our consciousness, especially with driven/busy DC lives. Your DS sounds like he's flying right now!

Kutik, almost as embarrassing as admitting to DD's love of super noodles - she wakes at 6am and out by 06.45 (in pool at 05.30 2 x), and comes home at circa 9pm. One of those days her piano lesson is at home at 5pm, and then she's turned around to return to her evening swim session. It's crazy, written down, but for now, that's the schedule. We all look forward to end of terms...

Oh and DS can apparently read music now?! Not sure how that happened. As I write he is sight reading Bach's prelude no. 2 in c minor on the piano. He doesn't play piano ...

Ealing, I hope your DD makes a swift recovery and can sit (and pass!) her exam.

DD is having a frustrating term musically what with lack of time and injury (though wrist seems better now). She is under a lot of pressure and I think it would be good for her mental health to have more time to play recreationally, especially guitar, but the days are only 24 hours long.

DS's guitar playing goes from strength to strength ... he showed me yesterday how he can now solo in all five positions with lots of bends and other clever stuff ... hard to believe he has only been playing for 3 months, or that there was a time in the recent past that he didn't know how to play a single chord.

He is showing a lot of interest in theory too ... he lost me yesterday at the Phrygian mode ...

to miniearling.

She is not only juggling sports and music, but also she is at a very academic school. Could I ask you what time she wakes up and goes to bed?

No doubt she is extremely hard-working, but hard-working alone cannot handle all she does. Very often people who can juggle so many things at such a high standard, they have incredible processing ability, capable to recognise important information very quickly and absorb and apply efficiently. Some become lazy because of this and some make most of it like miniearling. You have every right to be very proud of your DD. She is amazing.

Oh no Ealing hope she recovers in time and yes I think you are right it is possible with the right amount of juggling and commitment and your dd is a really good example of this

kutik, DD does between 2 - 4 hours on one sport 6 x wk, excluding travelling. Some of her peers do this on music, that's why they are chosen for the virtuoso/principle player parts...rightly so. She forfeited the right to be considered when choosing her one sport over this level of music, and is now content with the contributory roles ensembles presents (has the occasional pang of 'that could have been me'). This year was particularly tough with her choice to walk away from rowing - a sport her school excels in from novice to GB level.

She's currently sleeping in bed with the flu, I've NEVER seen her sleep during the day. She's been fortunate to coincide her illnesses with weekends, having never had a day off from school in 10 years. I probably don't say this enough to her, but I am very proud of her juggling. I hope she makes it to her G7 piano on Tues, as with 30 mins a week term times only from age 7 (2nd instrument), this has been perfect progression, for her. Whilst it is by no means meteoric, her piano teacher has the patience of a saint, never missing a grade but ensures they are slotted in between stuff she loves to learn, and never judges her for being so busy. He respects the fact that she tries to put the practise in when she can, and that in this instance, quality vs quantity is key, he knows she tries. I hope, for both their sakes she gets to sit.

String ds goes on and in about going to a specialist school - so that music is the focus we are resisting for now ....